CFP Board Initiative Seeks to Increase and Strengthen Women CFP Professionals

To address female underrepresentation in the financial planning profession, the CFP Board launched a program to accelerate the growth, influence and leadership of women CFP professionals called Accelerate & WIN.

Women are currently only 24% of all CFP professionals, the CFP Board said in a release about the initiative, noting there is “a growing need for more women in the field — both because consumers want diverse perspectives and because firms must attract and retain women to stay competitive.”

Previous attempts to address the challenge have not been enough, it said. The Accelerate & WIN program includes research, webinars, virtual events, and more, to engage women across age and career demographics, from college-bound high school students through graduates and career changers.

There are two aligned research initiatives in 2025. In February, the CFP Board published the Building Wealth: Insights on Women’s Aspirations & Growing Financial Power report and is planning to release a research report studying how financial services firms successfully attract and retain women financial planners at the 2025 Connections Conference in Chicago in October.

CFP Board will also host women’s initiative webinars, planned for April (“Serving Women Clients: Addressing Unique Financial Challenges”) and October (“Women in Financial Planning”).

Fall will also see the hosting of a virtual event called the CFP Pro Career Studio, which aims to deepen potential career changers’ understanding of what financial planners do, answer questions through guidance from career changers and help women take their first steps to making a career change.

Accelerate & WIN will be led by Lisa Davis, Chief Program Officer and Jillien Meier, Managing Director, Program Development.

To inform the initiative, the CFP Board is hosting an invite-only Power Women Design Summit on May 20 (with another to be planned for the fall) in New York City to bring together CFP professionals, financial planning leaders and organizations to explore effective strategies for attracting women to the profession.

According to the CFP Board, success of the initiative will be measured by: the growth of women CFP professionals; increased enrollment of women in financial planning degree programs; research demonstrating the business case for firms to increase numbers of women advisers; and strategic partnerships that advance the profession.